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Alcohol consumption, bone mineral density, and risk of osteoporotic fractures
The authors of a paper published in the January edition of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, state that there is no comprehensive evidence of literature assessing the role of alcohol consumption in bone mineral density (BMD) and the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Their study aimed to quantitatively assess the dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and BMD and risk of osteoporotic fractures.
Medical research databases were searched from their inception to December 2021 for articles providing a quantifiable measurement of alcohol consumption for at least three categories and (1) a measurement of BMD (and dispersion as continuous variables) in some area of the body or (2) risk of osteoporotic fracture provided as relative risk (RR) or hazard ratio (HR), with a 95% confidence interval (CI) as the measure of the association of each category with alcohol intake. A total of 11 studies including 46,916 individuals with BMD assessment and 8 studies including 240,871 individuals with risk of fracture analysis were included.
Compared to non-drinkers, consumption of up to two standard drinks of alcohol per day was correlated with higher lumbar and femur neck BMD values, while up to one standard drink of alcohol was correlated with higher hip BMD compared to no alcohol consumption.
Higher risk of hip fractures was found starting from three standard drinks of alcohol per day (RR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.04; 1.69 for three alcoholic drinks/d, and RR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.23; 2.05 for four alcoholic drinks/d) compared to no alcohol consumption, with no evidence of heterogeneity. Concerning the risk of any osteoporotic fractures, the risk steadily increased with higher intake of alcohol, although never reaching statistical significance.
In conclusion, there is consistent evidence that increased alcohol consumption is associated with higher risk of osteoporotic hip fracture; however, the role of alcohol at lower doses increases BMD. BMD is also higher in light drinkers compared to abstainers.
Source: Godos J, Giampieri F, Chisari E, Micek A, Paladino N, Forbes-Hernández TY, Quiles JL, Battino M, La Vignera S, Musumeci G, Grosso G. Alcohol Consumption, Bone Mineral Density, and Risk of Osteoporotic Fractures: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 28;19(3):1515.
Medical research databases were searched from their inception to December 2021 for articles providing a quantifiable measurement of alcohol consumption for at least three categories and (1) a measurement of BMD (and dispersion as continuous variables) in some area of the body or (2) risk of osteoporotic fracture provided as relative risk (RR) or hazard ratio (HR), with a 95% confidence interval (CI) as the measure of the association of each category with alcohol intake. A total of 11 studies including 46,916 individuals with BMD assessment and 8 studies including 240,871 individuals with risk of fracture analysis were included.
Compared to non-drinkers, consumption of up to two standard drinks of alcohol per day was correlated with higher lumbar and femur neck BMD values, while up to one standard drink of alcohol was correlated with higher hip BMD compared to no alcohol consumption.
Higher risk of hip fractures was found starting from three standard drinks of alcohol per day (RR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.04; 1.69 for three alcoholic drinks/d, and RR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.23; 2.05 for four alcoholic drinks/d) compared to no alcohol consumption, with no evidence of heterogeneity. Concerning the risk of any osteoporotic fractures, the risk steadily increased with higher intake of alcohol, although never reaching statistical significance.
In conclusion, there is consistent evidence that increased alcohol consumption is associated with higher risk of osteoporotic hip fracture; however, the role of alcohol at lower doses increases BMD. BMD is also higher in light drinkers compared to abstainers.
Source: Godos J, Giampieri F, Chisari E, Micek A, Paladino N, Forbes-Hernández TY, Quiles JL, Battino M, La Vignera S, Musumeci G, Grosso G. Alcohol Consumption, Bone Mineral Density, and Risk of Osteoporotic Fractures: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 28;19(3):1515.
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